The absolute BEST Vegan Queso made with cashews, non-dairy yogurt, salsa, green chiles, tomatoes and zero nutritional yeast! This queso is dairy-free, oil-free and delicious! EVEN READERS AGREE it is the best!
BEST VEGAN QUESO
I’m here to show you how to make the Best Vegan Queso ever today! This cheese recipe is a variation of my cheese sauce from my Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake. I’ve had probably hundreds tell me it is the “best I’ve ever had since going vegan”, so I only named it that because I and you all seem to feel that way, k? But guess what, it is even better because I adapted it to be queso now.
In all seriousness, it really is the best vegan queso cheese recipe. It is so good that it went over as a big hit with all of my non-vegan guests at my Christmas party. I even had a couple of them say “I’d eat this over regular queso any day”…especially when you look at how much more healthy my version is, yet so rich and decadent. I love wowing non-vegans with dairy-free recipes, which you can see in my 20 Healthy Vegan Recipes to Wow Non-Vegans!
If you are allergic to cashews, check out my nut-free queso here!
Pictured with my oil-free chips. See directions below how to make. I originally shared how to make these in my Mexican Bowls post, but have added brushed lemon juice this time. Yum. Learn why I like to be oil-free as much as possible on my How to Cook and Bake Without Oil post.
MAKE VEGAN CHEESE WITHOUT NUTRITIONAL YEAST
Unlike most vegan cheese recipes you will find, this Best Vegan Queso is made with NO nutritional yeast and yet it is insanely cheesy and full of flavor. The salsa, vinegar and yogurt all give this dairy-free queso dip all of it’s cheesy flavor and tang.
VEGAN QUESO INGREDIENTS
First, you will gather these 8 ingredients (+salt):
- Cashews: make it extra rich, creamy and thick just like dairy cheese.
- Salsa: gives the cheese a depth of flavor, as well as tang, which is needed for a cheesy taste.
- Non-dairy yogurt: makes this taste extra tangy, extra cheesy and creamy. I use the So Delicious coconut plain.
- Distilled white vinegar: another super acidic note to give extra oomph of flavor that just screams cheesy.
- Smoked paprika: gives a wonderful smoky undertone to the cheese.
- Ground cumin: gives more depth of flavor and aids to the authentic queso flavor.
- Green chiles: these add both flavor and texture, reminiscent of classic queso.
- Tomatoes: adds texture and classic in queso.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN QUESO
Step 1: First, add all of the ingredients (except the chiles and tomatoes) to a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix. If using the soaked cashews, then a food processor tends to work better to smooth out sauces, versus a blender that is not very powerful. Blend a couple of minutes until 100% smooth and creamy.
Step 2: After blending, stir in the green chiles and tomatoes, but do not blend. I used the whole can of chiles but you can use less if you prefer.
Step 3: Add the sauce to a pot and heat it over medium-low just for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly, until it slightly thickens. Be careful about overheating it or it will make it chunky.
Step 4: Top with sliced jalapenos or cilantro if desired and serve right away.
FREEZING TIPS
While I have not tried freezing this personally, I think it would be just fine. Just thaw it overnight in the fridge and reheat it on a very low heat over the stove, whisking constantly to prevent sticking. Do not heat it in the microwave, as I do not think it would reheat as well.
OTHER VEGAN CHEESE RECIPES TO TRY
- Vegan Ricotta Cheese
- Vegan Pimento Cheese
- 5 Ingredient Strawberry Cream Cheese
- Vegan Baked Herbed Cashew Cheese
- Vegan Baked Smoky Cashew Cheese
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Best Vegan Queso
Ingredients
- 1 cup (150g) raw unsalted cashews* (see NOTES at bottom regarding sub)
- 1 cup (240g) medium heat runny/not too chunky salsa (I used Pace Picante)
- 3/4 cup (180g) PLAIN dairy-free yogurt (I used SO Delicious "Unsweetened" Plain coconut yogurt but Soy will work too, but it's slightly sweeter)
- 1 tablespoon (15g) white distilled vinegar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 oz can diced green chiles (use half or the whole can)
- 1/4-1/2 cup diced tomatoes
- Optional: sliced jalapenos and cilantro
NOTE
- If you do not have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, then you will need to soak your cashews overnight in a bowl of water, drain, rinse and proceed. Otherwise, the cheese will be gritty. OR, you can sub the cashews with equal gram amount (150g) RAW oil-free cashew butter.
NOTE
- Using a medium heat salsa here will give a nice kick of spiciness. If you are serving this to kids or prefer mild, then sub with a mild salsa.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- If wanting to make my oil-free chips, make those first. See the bottom of the directions.
- Add all of the ingredients (except the chiles and tomatoes) to a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix. If using the soaked cashews, then a food processor tends to work better to smooth out sauces, versus a blender that is not very powerful. Blend a couple of minutes until 100% smooth. After blending, stir in the green chiles and tomatoes, but do not blend. I used the whole can of chiles but you can use less if you prefer.
- Add the sauce to a pot and heat it over medium-low just for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly, until it slightly thickens. Be careful about overheating it or it will make it chunky.
- Top with sliced jalapenos or cilantro if desired and serve right away. It will get a bit thicker as it sits and overnight in the fridge, so just give it a good stir.
- This sauce is excellent as a dip at a party or over burritos or nachos!
Oil-free Chips: Preheat your oven to 400°F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Cut your tortillas into 4ths. Spread them out evenly and brush lightly with lemon juice and season with salt. Bake for 8-10 mins or until they are getting crisp. Watch closely towards the end so they don't burn. Let them cool and crisp up.
Notes
- CASHEWS SUB: I always get asked about subbing cashews from people who are low-fat or avoid fat. I am not fat-free or nut-free so I use nuts in my recipes because I want them to taste just as rich and creamy as the original dairy versions, so that is why fat is needed.
However, if you want a lower fat version, you can sub up to 1/2 cup of the cashews with white beans. That will really reduce the amount of fat, but ONLY do this if you don't want the best version to serve and wow guests, as it will NOT be as rich, creamy or thick or taste the best. - NUT-FREE: If you are allergic to cashews, check out my nut-free queso here!
- FREEZING TIPS: While I have not tried freezing this personally, I think it would be just fine. Just thaw it overnight in the fridge and reheat it on a very low heat over the stove, whisking constantly to prevent sticking. Do not heat it in the microwave, as I do not think it would reheat as well.
Nutrition
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. I HOPE YOU NEVER STOP SHARING YOUR GREAT VEGAN RECIPES!
That is so kind, I don’t plan on it, thank you!
Hi, Brandi – I have a dairy allergy, but I love cheese, so i’m thrilled that this totally satisfied my queso craving (and without the cholesterol!)!
Do you have a corn tortilla recipe (or one you recommend)? I searched your blog but didn’t find one. I’ve been making flour tortilla from scratch but want to try corn.
Thanks!
So glad to hear it David! No I don’t have a corn tortilla recipe but I’ve been meaning to make one. I find oil free ones at Whole Foods and also Trader Joe’s I believe.
Omg I can’t believe how delish this dip was! Having been recently diagnosed with dairy intolerance I was mourning over the loss of cheese in my diet.
But this dip tastes just like regular queso! Even my hubby thought so. Thank you!
That is so amazing to hear Cindy! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review!
Thanks Brandi! This has become a fav or mine and I’ve made it for a few friends events and it’s a total winner! Love your blog. thanks for what you do.
Awesome! My kids loved it too, which was a surprise. I’m grateful to find this as giving up cheese has been hard for me. And I’m happy that there is no nutritional yeast in it. This is my hands down favorite vegan recipe website and I love the cookbook.
This was so awesome to hear Melissa, thank you so much! I’m really happy that my website is your favorite and you are loving my book, that means so much to hear, thank you!
I made this tonight and it was amazing!! I’ve been vegan for 10 years and made many vegan cheeses, and this is at the top! A keeper for sure.
Seriously amazing! I’ve tried many different vegan quests, and this is by far the best.
Made as a topping for black bean and lime cilantro rice burritos and it was a HIT! Didn’t have any green chilis so tossed in a jalapeño which gave it a delicious kick. Thank you for another winning recipe!
So awesome, thanks Christina!
Thank you so much for your recipes, we love them!
So happy to hear that, thank you Hope!
This is so good! If you did not know it wasn’t “real” queso, you wouldn’t be able to tell!
Yay, amazing to hear Janice!
I can’t get your “subscribe feature” to work. The actual place to enter name and email address doesn’t appear.
Yet another recipe that was so good even the non-vegans I know gobbled it right up! I took a batch of this to work, and even though no one in my office is vegan other than me it was gone in 5 minutes! It literally disappeared as fast as I could heat it up! This could not be improved upon in any way. Thanks for making me a hero in my office!! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! I have tried many vegan queso recipes and this is hands down, my favorite! So thankful to have found your website!
This is soooooo good! And if you have teenagers who eat all the plain yogurt in the house, and you don’t find out until you go to make this during a snowstorm, you CAN use tofu as a substitute. I only had extra firm tofu, so I added a splash of oat milk to loosen it up. Delicious!!
Woohoo, that is so awesome to hear Christina!!
Amazing!!!! I just made this to replace a previously made ques0 sauce from another source that disappointed me. I was out of salsa and green chilies, soI used Rotel and salsa verde. It turned out so perfectly delicious. It’s just what I was wanting flavour and texture-wise to top my left-over nachos!!
yay, lovely to hear this feedback Mireille, thank you!
This was sooo good:)
So glad you loved it, Eydie, thank you!
I am late in posting. I made this for Supper Bowl Sunday early February. Cheese lovers clamored for more. Outstanding flavor composition and texture. Simple and Delicious.
I’ve made this several times, and it is super quick to make and so tasty! I love it with chips as a dip hot or even cold(!) if I’m lazy and in/on burritos. A friend of mine makes a traditional dairy queso with boca crumbles in it, and that’s the next thing I want to try with it. Just have to wait for a party so I don’t eat it all myself lol! Thanks for another winner, Brandi!
This IS the BEST! My husband I love this sooooooo much we make a batch or 2 every week. It is a staple in our fridge. Seriously we put it on many things – not just Mexican!
I can’t thank you enough for this yummy.
Everybody needs to try it.
Drool Worthy!!!! I just made this to go with our nachos for dinner tonight, but we ate the dip instead. I subbed hummus for the yogurt because I did not have unsweetened. I also subbed apple cider vinegar for the white. Holy Moly is this delicious.
Yay! Wonderful to hear Marcy!!
Looks promising!…What can I substitute for the canned green chile? We just don’t have that in our area! Can I use fresh shishito peppers and how much? Tia!
You can just leave them out-it’s still delicious! Or add another pepper you like!
Promising…. if canned green chiles are unavailable, what can I sub it with and how much?
Is it possible to sub smoked paprika with liquid smoke and if so, how much?
Made this without the chiles but tasted awesome nonetheless and will be making this again soon.
Just wanted to say I appreciate and luv the following features of your recipes that I think sets it above many others out there:
1) precise measurements (when possible) of actual weight. Other recipes elsewhere just state “two medium potatoes, etc”. This saves beginners like myself from needing to Google how heavy or the actual size is of a “medium potato” which are hard to measure by dimension since they have different shapes.
2) precise cooking times (when possible) and if cooking time varies, what basis the variations are on such as the ingredient’s color we should be looking for or doneness (i.e “onion should be transparent” or “potato should be fork tender but not mushy”, etc.
3) the order the ingredients are listed are the same order they are added during cooking. This makes it easy to group them together when appropriate in one container so there’s less dish-washing in the end.
4) precise cutting sizes stated. To say “cut the potatoes in 1/4″ cubes” is so much useful than saying “cut the potatoes into cubes” especially when the flavor and cooking requirements are affected by size
5) substitutes or specifically stating what CANNOT BE SUBSTITUTED. So useful.
6) photos of what the end product looks like!
7) no oil necessary!!
8) no mile-long list of ingredients
KEEP IT IP!!!
We have made this recipe more times that I can count. So versatile, delicious, and ACTUALLY EASY. Its a rare thing to find a delicious easy vegan recipe and this one is just that.
If I want to use fresh grilled chilies what kind specifically should I be using? What can i use instead of white vinegar? Apple cider? White wine vinegar? Lemon juice?
Unbelievable!! I have tried countless vegan and diary queso recipes. But this one is TOP…… and so light and healthy. I used tahini because I didn’t have cashews… and it was still AWESOME. even got my picky teen to eat it.
Aww yay, makes me happy to hear, thank you Nina!
Delicious! I made this to take to a potluck at my office. My co-workers loved it and my bowl was empty in no time at all.
SO happy to hear that BJ!